Banda Aceh – Hundreds of protesters yesterday occupied Parliament in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, demanding that the local legislature be dissolved.

Some 500 protesters charged that provincial and district legislators had only served the central government's interests and had failed to contribute to solving conflict in the plagued province.

"The legislators are only serving their own interests while the Acehnese people are in a constant misery," they said in a statement. The statement urged the provincial Parliament to disband or face popular anger and demanded the resignation of Acehnese legislators in the national Parliament.

Mr Teuku Bachrum Manyak, an MP, reminded protesters that the legislators were elected by the Acehnese people. "It must be realised that legislators in this House of Representatives were chosen by the people through the elections," he said.

The protesters – local residents, students and pro-democracy activists – said they would stay in the Parliament building until today and would move to the Blang Bintang airport here tomorrow.

On Friday, some 100 Aceh students protested against the sacking of Aceh Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud, claiming it was done by force and disputing the choice of his successor.

They charged that Mr Mahmud's replacement, Mr Ramli Ridwan, was a crony of former Aceh Governor Ibrahim Hasan, who has been accused of condoning human rights abuses by the Indonesian military in Aceh during his term in the late 80s and early 90s.

They also demanded that the legislature be dissolved, arguing that "there has been no significant contribution from the local Parliament in solving the conflict in Aceh".

In April, 29 legislators in Aceh's Parliament upheld a no-confidence motion against Mr Mahmud, saying he lacked a clear vision on how to solve the problems in Aceh and that he had failed to protect the Acehnese people caught in the conflict.